Every player projected to be even a semi-regular center has missed at least 12 games, Andersson is the only one who has played more than 45.

Miller, Quincey, and Kronwall are the only players to have played 70 or more games.

Tatar and Lashoff, along with the three above, are the only players to have missed fewer than 10 games.

Nyquist and Tatar are the two leading goal scorers.

They have dressed 30 skaters and have had 11 rookies dress.

If you had been told those facts at the beginning of the year, haw many games out of the playoffs would you think they'd be right now? I would have figured close to the bottom of the division. Instead, if the season ended today they would be in the playoffs.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty proud of what this team has accomplished, even if it's not what past teams have been able to do.

The growth of the rookies is really a breath of fresh air for the team. That is exactly what it needed since 2010. Unfortunately, now that they have that, they are missing a new ingredient; the 2 team leaders.

If the Wings had 1 of Dats, or Z they would probably be in 5 or 6th place in the east.

I'll say this, for me it's not a matter of thinking that the team is sinking or that there aren't (some) reasonable excuses for (some) of the loses. I agree, the injuries tore this team up all year. BUT we're in every game we lose, tied in a lot of games we lose, and leading in almost a third of the games we lose. When you're leading by two goals going into the third you need to win more often then we do. It would be one thing if, because of injuries, we rarely got leads in game. It's another thing entirely to have leads so often and blow them. And you can't blame that all on injuries.

I'll say this, for me it's not a matter of thinking that the team is sinking or that there aren't (some) reasonable excuses for (some) of the loses. I agree, the injuries tore this team up all year. BUT we're in every game we lose, tied in a lot of games we lose, and leading in almost a third of the games we lose. When you're leading by two goals going into the third you need to win more often then we do. It would be one thing if, because of injuries, we rarely got leads in game. It's another thing entirely to have leads so often and blow them. And you can't blame that all on injuries.

To me thats exactly what kids/injuries give you. Its not like Edmonton gets behind every game by three goals, without solid reliable veterans somewhere in the lineup teams show inconsistencies through periods. This is one of the first years watching the wings where you do not know what to expect after each intermission. Usually you can watch the first period of a game and know whether the wings have the legs and if they are going to win (without taking in to account the unfortunate unlucky bounces). Here we have a team that can play with any one in the league one minute and then give away a two goal lead in three minutes. The kids have played great and sprinkled among the likes of two superstar two way forwards this season would have been more consistent, but due to the injuries you never know what to expect over 20 minutes of hockey let alone the whole 60.

I think they'll make the playoffs. I haven't checked, so I could be wrong, but I think they'd have the tie breaker against the other 3 teams sitting at 80pts (currently). I think they have more ROW than the others. They also have more games left than most.

Great post! Interesting to see the numbers on paper, and astonishing that we are still able to say we are in the playoff picture.

Every time I think about how exciting this season has been, watching our young guys step up and find their niche on this team, I get a little bummed that they have brought us this far, and might still end up riding the pine next season (or even in the playoffs, if we get some injured bodies back). I really hope we get to see Shaehan and Glendening full-time, as I think they have earned it.

Don't get me wrong... getting Z or Dats back would be HUGE, but I like the way the kids have been playing and I just hope they won't lose their spots.

I'll say this, for me it's not a matter of thinking that the team is sinking or that there aren't (some) reasonable excuses for (some) of the loses. I agree, the injuries tore this team up all year. BUT we're in every game we lose, tied in a lot of games we lose, and leading in almost a third of the games we lose. When you're leading by two goals going into the third you need to win more often then we do. It would be one thing if, because of injuries, we rarely got leads in game. It's another thing entirely to have leads so often and blow them. And you can't blame that all on injuries.

Not entirely,. but when you're missing your 2 best forwards who are also 2 of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, you're not going to hold leads as well as you would with them.

The biggest issue with all the injuries though is the lack of continuity. It's hard to develop any consistency when you don't know who you're going to have in the lineup on any given night. Add in the inconsistent nature of younger guys in general and you have the recipe for a lot of blown leads.

I bought some Maple Lea Tea. It cost a fortune and didn't come with a Cup.

Not entirely,. but when you're missing your 2 best forwards who are also 2 of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, you're not going to hold leads as well as you would with them.

The biggest issue with all the injuries though is the lack of continuity. It's hard to develop any consistency when you don't know who you're going to have in the lineup on any given night. Add in the inconsistent nature of younger guys in general and you have the recipe for a lot of blown leads.

I do agree that the effect of losing guys like D and Z (and even Helm and Weiss, who are both good defensively) lead to an overall propensity to blow leads. But, it's not like we weren't doing it before the injuries. Most of those games we lost during the streak of overtime/shootout loses were blown leads as well, and we had our regulars in the lineup then.

But I don't want to make this about blowing leads, I already created that thread. I do think injuries have played a part, and when you combine that with the fact that it took this long to get the kids into the lineup AND the fact that our defense is severely underqualified you've got a recipe for games lost.

Next year, a healthy lineup, PLUS the kids, MINUS the old timers will be much better. Although without changes to the defense it still won't be near the top of the league in my opinion.

GMRwings: "Well, in other civilized countries, 16 years old isn't considered underage. For instance, I believe the age of consent is 16 in Canada. There's some US states where it's 16 as well.

Injuries played a factor no doubt. However, the problem with this team and if it misses the playoffs will be the 1 million shootouts they had that they lost. If they even won a third of the shootouts they lost they would be in the playoffs right now. Those points were huge and it's showing right now

Okay, hate to throw the monkey wrench into the works here, but, these kids are producing at a really high level. Now I am not saying they have replaced Z and D, but they have soften the blow a lot. What you should ask yourself are the following:

#1 How much different would things be if you added D and Z, and subtracted Nyquist, and Sheahan? Because remember that on the perfectly healthy day roster neither of these guys made the cut.

#2 Will this team ever be perfectly healthy? Z is by far my favorite player in the league, but, he now has a pretty impressive history of injury. We can speculate on what this team would or could do, but is this team actually capable of being healthy anymore?

I'll say this, for me it's not a matter of thinking that the team is sinking or that there aren't (some) reasonable excuses for (some) of the loses. I agree, the injuries tore this team up all year. BUT we're in every game we lose, tied in a lot of games we lose, and leading in almost a third of the games we lose. When you're leading by two goals going into the third you need to win more often then we do. It would be one thing if, because of injuries, we rarely got leads in game. It's another thing entirely to have leads so often and blow them. And you can't blame that all on injuries.

I wouldn't consider being competitive in many of our losses to be a bad thing (and for the record, we've actually had a lead at some point in 22 of our 40 losses). It's not like we're blowing big leads all the time. 6 times we've lost after leading by two goals at some point. 3 times when leading by two in the third. Of course it's something that needs improvement, but I think pretty far from our biggest issue.

Really, losing games where we're competitive suggests that we'd probably be winning a lot more if we were healthy. If we were getting blown out all the time I'd be inclined to think being healthy wouldn't help.

I wouldn't consider being competitive in many of our losses to be a bad thing (and for the record, we've actually had a lead at some point in 22 of our 40 losses). It's not like we're blowing big leads all the time. 6 times we've lost after leading by two goals at some point. 3 times when leading by two in the third. Of course it's something that needs improvement, but I think pretty far from our biggest issue.

Really, losing games where we're competitive suggests that we'd probably be winning a lot more if we were healthy. If we were getting blown out all the time I'd be inclined to think being healthy wouldn't help.

Agreed, I definitely don't think that being competitive is bad. Although after re-reading what I typed I understand why it would look that way. I suppose my point was, injuries or no, if you can take leads in games then you should be able to win games (especially with multiple goal leads). We should be winning more with the lineup we've currently got. Sure we'd win more with D and Z, but this lineup has shown it can compete too. I just wish it was competing a bit more successfully after 60 minutes.

But then I have to remind myself that even when we didn't have all these injuries we were still blowing leads. So maybe it's a product of something else. While I'm no expert, my guess is that a combination of a healthy D, Z, Weiss, Ericsson, PLUS the infusion of the kids, PLUS a little work on the back end is probably the recipe for success...but I don't know.

GMRwings: "Well, in other civilized countries, 16 years old isn't considered underage. For instance, I believe the age of consent is 16 in Canada. There's some US states where it's 16 as well.

Okay, hate to throw the monkey wrench into the works here, but, these kids are producing at a really high level. Now I am not saying they have replaced Z and D, but they have soften the blow a lot. What you should ask yourself are the following:

#1 How much different would things be if you added D and Z, and subtracted Nyquist, and Sheahan? Because remember that on the perfectly healthy day roster neither of these guys made the cut.

#2 Will this team ever be perfectly healthy? Z is by far my favorite player in the league, but, he now has a pretty impressive history of injury. We can speculate on what this team would or could do, but is this team actually capable of being healthy anymore?

Why would you subtract Nyquist? The only reason he was in GR as long as he was is because Holland overestimated his ability to trade someone. And yes, they absolutely would be better with Datsyuk or Zetterberg over Sheahan.

I bought some Maple Lea Tea. It cost a fortune and didn't come with a Cup.

Okay, hate to throw the monkey wrench into the works here, but, these kids are producing at a really high level. Now I am not saying they have replaced Z and D, but they have soften the blow a lot. What you should ask yourself are the following:

#1 How much different would things be if you added D and Z, and subtracted Nyquist, and Sheahan? Because remember that on the perfectly healthy day roster neither of these guys made the cut.

#2 Will this team ever be perfectly healthy? Z is by far my favorite player in the league, but, he now has a pretty impressive history of injury. We can speculate on what this team would or could do, but is this team actually capable of being healthy anymore?

They may have started the season this way, but after a month or two of all of us complaining, Babcock DID scratch Cleary and Bert, and the team DID waive Sammy. Z, D, Nyquist and Sheahan have all been in the lineup at the same time this season, so it is not a matter of either/or.

People get mad at Babcock/Holland for the opening day roster - understandably - but no one ever mentions how the old guys got scratched/waived in favor of the youngsters once they got their chance. People make mistakes - even coaches - and are allowed to correct those mistakes. Babs hand might have been forced a bit by the injuries, but its not as though he is going to send Nyquist and Sheahan back to the minors once Cleary is healthy again....

Why would you subtract Nyquist? The only reason he was in GR as long as he was is because Holland overestimated his ability to trade someone. And yes, they absolutely would be better with Datsyuk or Zetterberg over Sheahan.

It's really hard to say that they would be better with Datsyuk or Zetterberg, my point being that since we don't have access to a world where Z and D were healthy, it's impossible to say that the team would be in a better position or not.